Short Arm Spinnerbaits, made some few available?

[Cgolf]

This morning I took an old 3/8 ounce strike king with too thick wire and a Walmart 1/4 ounce spin and converted them to short arm baits and gave them a go on the river this morning. They had a ton of thump and both tracked very well. Had two nice pike give me a lazy follow. Will be curious to try them in the reeds next year and see how well they come through them compared to a standard spinnerbait. Any specific uses I am missing?

 

Only saw one or two on TW so I figured on my local lake that gets hammered pressure wise they would give them a different look.  

[Bdnoble84]

What is the advantage of a short arm spinnerbait?

[OldManLure]

33 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

What is the advantage of a short arm spinnerbait?

It is intended to prevent the missed hooksets allegedly caused by typical arm length.  I have to believe if this was a real issue, the spinner bait as we know it would not have enjoyed the consistent success it has, would have by now lost popularity and would have disappeared from the inventory of tackle suppliers.  I do believe it offers a slightly different profile and can, I guess, present a new look to the bass who has seen it all.

[jimmyjoe]

54 minutes ago, Bdnoble84 said:

What is the advantage of a short arm spinnerbait?

 

   Better linearity (and therefore performance) when slow rolling on the bottom.     jj

[Cgolf]

The bit I read online said they are a better drop bait than a standard spin which would be beneficial when fishing in cover like reeds. I could reel and pause it when near a reed. 
 

I did notice though that the bait thumped so much on the 3/8 bait that the wire on top with the blade was rotating back and forth hard almost like a chatter bait. Maybe these were the precursor to the chatter bait and the chatter bait has now replaced it? 

[Munkin]

One recommendation would be if they are not working would be to bend the arm from the head to a higher angle. It would help the bait run better and not swing side to side as much.

 

Allen

[Cgolf]

16 minutes ago, Munkin said:

One recommendation would be if they are not working would be to bend the arm from the head to a higher angle. It would help the bait run better and not swing side to side as much.

 

Allen

That was the bait I got the two follows on, I think it was just a large Colorado blade that put the thump on it. Honestly even with a Clunn glass rod it felt similar to a chatter bait on the retrieve which at least so far seems like a good thing. Once I get it out more next year I will keep that in mind and adjust them till the fish tell me I got it right. It is a neat little bait that may give new life to the heavy wire spinnerbaits I no longer use. 
 

Also this is a tough stretch of the river but a good place to test lures. Haven’t seen a fish the last few times there but do see the occasional pike. Never caught a smallie in this section. 

[papajoe222]

I fish them strictly as a drop bait as they get hung on wood and weeds fairly easy. Reel one over the top of a weed bed and let it drop at the edge, or for ledge fishing. As  someone mentioned, they have a better hook-up ratio because the hook is well behind the blade.

[king fisher]

When I was a kid I fished a short arm spinnerbait called a Scorpion by Bass Buster.  It worked well for slow rolling, and it was also easier to wake on the surface without breaking the surface than my other spinnerbaits.  I don't know if the reason was because of the short arm or not, but it was a great bait to wake.

[Cgolf]

19 minutes ago, king fisher said:

When I was a kid I fished a short arm spinnerbait called a Scorpion by Bass Buster.  It worked well for slow rolling, and it was also easier to wake on the surface without breaking the surface than my other spinnerbaits.  I don't know if the reason was because of the short arm or not, but it was a great bait to wake.

I fished the 1/4 ounce head this morning on a swifter current section of the river and found depth control was much better than other spinnerbaits I have used, standard spins and inlines. It seemed to track at one depth and didn’t wash out when you hit a patch of faster water. I probably could have used it as a wake bait even with the uneven current. 
 

I really hope they come through the reeds well as the drop bait characteristic is key. Last year a 1/3 of my spinnerbait hits came on a change of speed or a pause. That doesn’t include the hits post bouncing off a reed as I had those too. Time will tell. 
 

So far I am really impressed. Not worried about not catching anything yet, because this is bonus time from shore with low historical expectations in these spots. 

[ATA]

I was watching a YouTube from 1999 Bill dance and he talk about them that have specific place and condition for using short armed spinnerbait which is, flutter it coz it will rotate like helicopter, Thats his exact words, By the way always choose the short armed spinnerbait with weedgaurds.

[scaleface]

5 hours ago, ATA said:

By the way always choose the short armed spinnerbait with weedgaurds.

I have a couple with weed guards , havent used them for  a long time . I use to attach a pork frog and fish them in wood . . Retrieve it then kill it and let it flutter through the limbs . It works well on waters with lots of standing timber .

[moguy1973]

I had a Stanley short arm spinner bait I got from one of the secret boxes a few years ago.  Was my favorite spinner bait for smallmouth bass.  I say "had" and "was" because there's a bass that thought it would be nice to keep.  I don't think they make them anymore.